Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1661904 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-25
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .49" h x 5.38" w x 7.48" l, .33 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

From AudioFile
When Olivia and her father take up residence in a newapartment building, they both have much to learn about the building'soccupants and each other. As superintendent, George Kidney has dutiesto fulfill, leaving Olivia time to find the friendships shedesperately needs. Her search takes her in and out of apartments andin and out of a fantasy world. Among others, listeners will meetBranwell, Sidi, and Madame Brenda, whose personal stories tell ofaerial views, old farms, and séances. Characters and events, realand imaginary, intertwine at a dizzying pace. With a clear voice andsteady pace, Tara Sands leads the listener through Olivia'sdiscoveries and developing friendships. Sands narrates Olivia as theyoung lady she is--with all the squeals, awe, and disbelief of a youngperson, while also providing distinguishing vocal traits for thesupporting cast. A.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. Readers who think they are getting a story about a lonely girl living with her sweet but inept father, a super in a New York high-rise, will be partially right. But as soon as Olivia opens the doors of several apartments, she (and readers), enter full-blown fantasy worlds, where occupants live in rooms of glass or a tropical forest; one resident wears a lizard boa and another is a ghost. The apartments and the characters have stories of their own, and Potter manages to draw all the parts together into a cohesive whole that speaks to Olivia's abandonment issues (her mother has left; her brother is dead) and to the power of her imagination. There is so much going on here the story may be difficult for some children to handle; less would have been much more. But Potter, a first-time novelist, has a delightful way with words, and she offers picture-perfect descriptions of life in Olivia's curious building. The gray-wash pictures are also fun, focusing on the appealing Olivia. Ilene Cooper
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